


Settling In

by Kalloway



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Gen, Nohr | Conquest Route, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 21:38:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16206170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalloway/pseuds/Kalloway
Summary: After the end, Corrin is ready for a new beginning.Apparently, that requires organizing her bookshelves.





	Settling In

**Author's Note:**

> for 31 Days, June 5/say goodbye to the past you never knew

Finally, it was all over.

Finally.

Corrin flopped back onto her bed in her new suite in Castle Krakenburg. Her things, few that they were, had mostly arrived both from the Northern Fortress and from their castle-camp. That made the suite feel a bit more like hers, but something about it still felt wrong anyway.

Hopefully, this would start to feel like home, and like a true new beginning. She knew she shouldn't feel afraid, but she couldn't shake the odd eeriness of the current quiet, either.

Perhaps if Jakob would visit, or Elise, or...

Everyone was probably still settling in or rushing around trying to do things. Corrin wasn't sure what else she needed to do, though.

She rolled and glanced at her bookshelves, which were nearly filled but so very, very...

They definitely needed to be organized.

Corrin slipped off the bed and started pulling book after book from the shelves, piling them in a circle around herself. She wasn't entirely sure how they should go, but they needed to be different. Yes, they needed to be in an order she wasn't sure of but would figure out.

Romances-- those were the easiest. Most had come from Camilla, and some were exceptionally racy. Sometimes Felicia and Flora borrowed them, but it looked like everything had made it to the castle. Hopefully, Felicia and Flora would still borrow them. Maybe she could get more... Oh, and here were a couple that were new, from Sakura. Hinoka and Sakura had brought books on one early visit, in hopes of Corrin learning more about Hoshido and Hoshidan culture through her interest in reading. Corrin suspected it had been Sakura's idea, but a few of the selections had obviously been Hinoka's.

Those were not the romances, though. Those were histories and adventures and a book on Hoshidan pegasi.

Pausing, Corrin set aside one of the Hoshidan romances. Then it was on to all of the slightly-dry books from Leo, which were informative but never anything that would keep her up til dawn either. Histories, adventures, a couple of dictionaries...

This had to be the longest she'd been alone in ages. She'd gotten so used to bustling army life, but now...

Corrin pulled herself up onto the bed - she'd been sitting on the floor for the last couple of shelves - and reached for the book she'd left out. Was Sakura a big fan of romance? Corrin wondered if she would still be if she didn't have Camilla feeding them to her and then Felicia and Flora to share goofy romantic daydreams with about being swept off her feet by a handsome prince and...

The only princes she knew were Xander and Leo, though of course Xander was now a king. That was probably still quite romantic, though, as long as Xander wasn't planning on too many mistresses. Takumi and Ryoma had been princes, too...

Corrin sighed. She would have liked to have gotten to know them better. Growing up with them would have been...

It wasn't anything Corrin wanted to spend too much time thinking about. She didn't want to second-guess anything, or debate what-ifs. What had happened had happened.

She couldn't go back and claim a past, or even a pair of pasts that had been denied her. She could only go forward. This was her life now, her home, her...

Corrin looked at the book's cover for a long time.

Something still felt odd.

There was a quick knock at the suite's door - hers, Corrin supposed, she wasn't just visiting - before it flew open.

"Hey, Corrin, are you still awake?"

"Elise!"

"I'm still awake," Corrin called as she set the book on the bed. Before she could even get up, Elise came running into the bedchamber and all but launched herself onto Corrin's legs.

"I wanted to see if you were lonely," Elise explained as she shifted and settled to lean on Corrin.

"So did I," Camilla admitted as she stroke in clutching a couple of books.

"We've been so busy," Felicia said quickly as she rushed in, Flora at her side. Flora, at least, did not nearly-trip over the edge of the bedchamber's rug. "Can we get you anything?"

"I've just been arranging a few things." Corrin laughed softly as Jakob arrived next, and Kaze, and Leo and Xander and everyone's retainers. The bedchamber was certainly not big enough for everyone, but everyone squeezed in anyway...

At least until somebody made a suggestion for food, and for drinks, and for making Corrin's suite look a little more lived-in.

For the first time in her life, Corrin was the first one awake in the morning, though she couldn't do anything about it. Not with Elise on one side and with most of her blankets, or with Xander on the other and looking so peaceful while completely pinning her hair.

Yet... somehow, her book had remained within reach and there was just enough light coming from the city and from a couple still-burning lanterns. She might as well read a bit.

It would be a good start for the future.


End file.
